Severe Weather

River rescue crews prepare for storm

Emergency crews all over the Susquehanna Valley are preparing for Hurricane Sandy's push.

The potential for rising water has rescuers concerned along the Lancaster County side of the Susquehanna River.

The Blue Rock Fire Rescue has three fire rescue boats ready for the pending storm.

During the flood of 2011, river rescue crews were called to 16 water rescues in just the West Lancaster area.

Firefighters held a meeting to "get their ducks in an order" on Saturday.

The fire company is made up of four stations and is all-volunteer.

They were told to be in the station, not at home during the storm.

While the firefighters aren't exactly sure how Sandy will affect them, they fear it won't be good and that any plan is better than no plan.

"We're ready to go at a moment's notice," said Brett Graham of Blue Rock Fire Rescue. "We have the luxury of having a bit of a heads up. We just want to make sure we have the guys around. We want to make sure when those calls come in, we're out the door."

Blue Rock Fire Rescue covers 53 square miles in Lancaster County.

The firefighters will start staffing crews around the clock beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, until at least 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Firefighters also stressed that they don't want to have to put boats in the water. A lot of times, those rescues are the result of people driving into standing water.

Harrisburg started setting up traffic control barrels along the roads just so they are ready in case of flooding.

McClay and Cameron streets are often the first places to flood in the Harrisburg area.

Barrels will be placed to stop people from driving into rising waters.

There is a new law in Pennsylvania that prohibits ignoring road closing signs. Drivers that go around the barricades will be fined. Fines can be thousands of dollars if fire and rescue crews have to be called to rescue a driver.

Susquehanna River dams could also see a lot of rising water.

Power company Exelon had operators drain extra water from the low-side of Lancaster County's Safe Harbor Dam on Saturday.

A warning was issued to fishermen to beware of changing water levels in the public fishing area.

Copyright 2012 byWGAL All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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